After Superman: The Movie's epic storytelling and Superman II's awesome battles, how could the first two hits be topped? In Superman III, meet Gus Gorman (Richard Pryor), a half-witted computer programming natural. For him... more &raquo a keyboard is a weapon - and Superman faces the microelectronic menace of his life. Christopher Reeve reprises his most beloved role, deepening his character's human side as Clark Kent reunites with old flame Lana Lang (Annette O'Toole) at a Smallville High class reunion. And when Superman becomes his own worst enemy after Kryptonite exposure, Reeve pulls off both roles with dazzling skill. Incredible visual effects abound - but above all it has heart, heroism and high-flying humor. All in superabundance.&laquo less

Member Movie Reviews

Keith A. (Keefer522) Reviewed on 5/30/2013...

The "Superman" franchise officially jumped the shark with this third entry which relies too much on light comedy and not enough on superheroic action. Richard Pryor (??) seems to be the only one in the cast who's having any fun, playing an awkward computer genius who gets roped into helping a super villain (Robert Vaughan) take over the world. Everyone else, including the usually dependable Reeve, seems to be in it for the paycheck. There are a few fun moments mixed in with the needless slapstick, but the only reason this isn't the worst "Superman movie" is because "Superman IV: The Quest For Peace" exists.

Movie Reviews

A Flawed but Fun Film

S. R. | USA | 10/08/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"For this third installment, the producers decided to inject a more modern twist into the Superman mythos via Richard Pryor's antics and the dependence on computer technology theme. The result was met with mixed reviews but did provide Christopher Reeve the opportunity to turn his dual role into a triple. Not only does he play Clark Kent and Superman, but also an evil Superman that manifests after exposure to synthetic Kryptonite (a plot device repeated at nauseum on the 'Smallville' TV series). The fight sequence between Clark Kent and his evil counterpart plays like a scene right out a Superman comic book! As far as the supporting cast is concerned, Margot Kidder's Lois Lane is not given much screen time but Annette O' Toole's Lana Lang (another 'Smallville' TV series staple) fills the role of Clark's old love interest nicely. The flying shots are easily the best of the franchise and Reeve is definitely the most buff he's ever been making him the most realistic physical embodiment of Superman to date. Unlike the previous DVD release, there are extras this time around including a commentary by the producers, a 1983 'Making of' special hosted by Chris Reeve, and almost 20 minutes of deleted scenes! In closing, while this movie isn't quite as magical as the first two Superman films, a terrific performance by Christopher Reeve and some nice supplemental material makes it worthy of another look on DVD."

SuperGREAT

S. D. Stocker | Annapolis, Maryland USA | 01/10/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Before writing this review, I viewed the others on this page and I am afraid that my view differs greatly from all but one of theirs. When I first saw this movie I was about 4 or 5 and found it to be fun and exciting. In experiencing these four films on DVD in a widscreen movie format as an adult I think Superman 1 through 3 are equally fantastic. What I liked about Superman 3 is precisely what most everyone else seemed to dislike, the lighter more humorous approuch to the story. I thought it was a nice change from the first two films which were very serious, excellent, but serious. It was in the same vain as Star Trek 4 The voyage Home, which was very light, humourous and adventurous. I thought it was a fitting change of pace from the first three, which delt with some very heavy issues as did the first two Superman Films. The new villain in this film was also a nice change, luther had already appeared in the first two, so having superman face off with someone unkown to him was great. I absolutely loved Richard Pryor in this, he was just so funny and his wonderful comic style helped bring a lighter air to this movie. I Agree with the other reviewers that Richard Donner is an excellent director and should not have been replaced, not to take anything way from Mr. Lester who I thought did a great job with Superman 3. I appreacated all of the opinions I read, as a superman fan who takes the quality of the films seriously, it is good to see that there are others as protective of the super film legacy as I.

Thanks for a great Movie Mr. Reeve and Warner Brothers"

It's not great but better than Superman 4 at least

J. J Woehr | Lindenhurst, NY United States | 12/06/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I'm basically giving Superman 3 *** stars because of the late great Christopher Reeves. A group of rich snobs use red krpytonite to turn Superman bad. Christopher Reeves pulls it off being good and bad in the same movie pretty well. Otherwise this was a pretty disapointing addition in the series next to Superman 1 and 2. Richard Pryor is funny here even if the film shouldn't of tried to be funny. Plus instead of Lex Luther we get 3 snobby people who do nothing for the film. Lois Lane is even a side character in this one. Annette O'Toole (Clark's mom in Smallville) has more screen time here as Clark's High School crush Lana Lang.

I missed Lois here but she was wasted when there was more of her in Superman 4 anyway. I mean that just uses her for a silly scene where Superman has to think of how to date Lois as Superman and another woman as Clark at the same time. So this isn't a great Superman movie but at least it wasn't too much of a soap opera that was hard to take seriously like Superman 4 was either. Although yes this is hard to take seriously at times but it does get a good performance out of Christopher Reeves at least. Plus eventhough it's goofy it has it's entertaining points. It also at least doesn't have a guy named Nuclear Man."

And Superman IV Was Bad? Have You Seen This One?

D. Reed | Elkton, MD USA | 09/09/2009

(2 out of 5 stars)

""After Superman: The Movie's epic storytelling and Superman II's awesome battles, how could the first two hits be topped?" Well definately not by this one! Lester takes on as director in this one (only three quarters of Superman II was his), he falls flat. The only reason this is even getting two stars is because of Christopher Reeve, who continues to give everything he's got to the character. This time acting out good and evil sides of Superman (though I will admit that Superman's "evil" deeds come across as misdemeanors at best. Even the repositioning of Pisa comes across not really being all that evil, though probably more of the writers fault than Reeve). His scenes with Lana (played by Annette O'Toole, the only other saving grace in this picture, who would later star in Smallville, which I think shames the Superman franchise, but that's only my opinion) are well acted and you can see that Clark still has a high school crush on her. Pryor is not funny. Not at all. The only reason he was in this one is because the producers saw him on Johnny Carson and he said how much he loved part II, which is a stupid reason for anyone to be cast in a film. Robert Vaughn does what he can with Ross Webster (who is more or less a clone of Luthor) but he at least comes off better than Pryor. The story is downright shameful to what they had in the first two films. Gorman miraculously discovers he has a talent for computer programming when he can't even keep a job for more than 28 minutes? And none of his previous jobs had him anywhere near computers anyway. And there's the satellite which can be reprogrammed to create weather? Yeah I have a better chance of believing people flying around in space without any oxygen. Well the Salkinds did always want to make a campy Superman film and they did it. I guess they figured that with Donner and Mankiewicz out of the way, people would see this movie just because it has Superman. They should've stuck with their original idea of having Brainiac, Supergirl and Mr. Mxyzptlk involved. In fact, Gorman was supposed to be Brainiac (which would explain the supercomputer having a life of its own) but it was not to be. Little did we know though, that twelve years from now, Batman would be facing campy problems with his third movie. Coincidence? The action sequences are subpar, the only really exciting set pieces are Superman vs. Clark in the junkyard, the Grand Canyon missile attack and to lesser extents, the chemical factory scene and the supercomputer. And I guess nobody decided to tell the editor that the wires are visible in a few scenes. Couldn't they have smudged them out? Even if they didn't do it back then, they definately could've done it now, this being a Deluxe Edition. Ken Thorne, I think, is probably the only one besides Reeve and O'Toole, who didn't mess up this picture. His music sounds better with this (and thank goodness you can hardly hear the songs. They sounded horrible). This had so much potential and it pains me to give a DC movie two stars featuring one of my favorite superheroes (I usually reserve that for Marvel's movies though this movie was better than Spider-Man 3)."

Okay, this is where the Superman series starts to get stupid

Jennifer A. Everhart | 06/14/2009

(2 out of 5 stars)

"This is Superman III, the third entry in the franchise, and probably the silliest. August ''Gus'' Gorman (Richard Pryor) was looking for a job and found one at a computer company run by a corrupt millionaire Ross Webster (Robert Vaughn), his younger sister Vera (Annie Ross), and girlfriend Lorelei Ambrosia (Pamela Stephenson). Meanwhile, Clark Kent (Christopher Reeve) convinces Perry White (Jackie Cooper) to let him attend his High School Reunion in Smallville, while Lois (Margot Kidder) goes on a vacation to Bermuda. At the reunion, he was reunited with Lana Lang (Annette O'Toole) who is now a mother to Ricky (Paul Kaethler). At Ricky's birthday party, Gus and Vera, in disguise as soldiers give Superman a messed-up chunk of Kryptonite in an attempt to kill him, but due to a minor component modification, it causes him to slowly go crazy. He became negligent at his duties and messed things up by causing an oil spill and moving the Leaning Tower of Piza straight. Then the gang plot to use the satellites to control Earth's weather. When Superman sank into alcoholism and depression in front of everyone, Ricky pleads for him to snap out of it and that plea gives him the strength to fight it. It causes him to split into two personas, the evil version Vs. Clark Kent. Clark successfully defeats his evil clone and goes to redeem himself by fixing everything, stopping the three villains, and saving Gus. In the series, this entry was okay, but the jokes and the intro were cornier. Richard Pryor was alright, but not that funny compared to his stand-up routines, and he and Richard Lester are better off in comedy films. It did have some neat ideas, like Superman saving a chemical plant from a fire, for example. Christopher Reeve's performance as a corrupted version of Superman and the battle of both versions is the highlight of this entry. Unless you are a true D.C. Comics fan, please rent this one before you buy it."